In an unannounced trip to Iraq, a country that has seen horrific war and terrorism over the last decade, Secretary of Defense General James Mattis was making a statement.

“You see, ISIS is now caught in-between converging forces. So ISIS’s days are certainly numbered, but it’s not over yet and it’s not going to be over any time soon.”

“An enemy that hides behind women and children are showing who are the people violating every standard of decency and fills us with conviction [for] what we have to do about this enemy.”

“I’ve seen people fleeing to ISF (Iraqi security forces) and feeling safe when they get to them. That alone is more telling than anything there, you see people risking their lives getting from one side to another. We are the good guys and the innocent people in the battlefield know the difference.”

Mattis named the fight:

“ISIS’s last stand.”

I’m reminded of Braveheart. Imagine Mattis in fur, riding from the fire atop a stallion. Idyllic.

Call me old fashioned, call me a war hawk, but I rather like the idea of America kicking ass and taking names, being feared by enemies. It’s also refreshing to hear our military leaders taking pleasure in America being the best. I enjoy military leaders flexing their military might. I delight in Mattis delighting in American Military Supremacy. Yes, I capitalized that for no reason but to emphasis a point. Which I realize isn’t allowed in grammatically correct circles. Tuff toenails.

ISIS should run, cower, and pee their pants at the thought of the American military and its leaders. Welcome to the new era, dessert scum.

The whole Russian hacking fake news is going too far and Obama is poking the bear in retaliation.

The White House is ready to retaliate against Russia for its supposed influence on the 2016 presidential election in the form of cyberattacks. Those responses will come in the form of sanctions and diplomacy, according to U.S. officials.

The actions are expected to include expanded sanctions and diplomatic measures, the officials said, in what the administration deems a proportional response to a Russian operation that went beyond cyber hacking activities common among nations.

John Brennan, makes it clear in his interview with NPR, that the actions against Russia is a bad idea.

The director of the Central Intelligence Agency, said the United States should not retaliate against Russian hacking.

“I don’t think we should resort to some of the tactics and techniques that our adversaries employ against us,” Brennan told NPR. “I think we need to remember what we’re fighting for. We’re fighting for our country, our democracy, our way of life, and to engage.

“And the skullduggery that some of our opponents and adversaries engage in, I think is beneath this country’s greatness.”

Brennan also discussed the war in Syria, saying he did not believe it was over despite the city of Aleppo being taken over by forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

“Aleppo’s fall, to me, is not a sign that there is going to be an end to this conflict because I am convinced that many, many of those oppositionists, the ones who are trying to reclaim their country for their families, for their neighbors, for their children, will continue to fight,” Brennan said.

“This insurgency is not going to go away until there is some type of viable and genuine political process that will bring to power in Damascus a government that is representative of the Syrian people and really will try to repair and recover from this awful war,” he added. Read More at: newsmax.com